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08 August 2023 | Story EDZANI NEPHALELA | Photo EDZANI NEPHALELA
Mbulelo Aven Jafta and Dr Engela van Staden
Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Xhariep Municipality Corporate Services Director, and Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, sign a memorandum of understanding to enrich various communities in the Xhariep Municipality areas through leadership training.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Xhariep Municipality that is aimed at positively impacting communities through strategic partnerships. The organisations plan for their collaboration to make a significant difference by training 35 of their employees via the UFS Business School – 15 will undertake the Foundation Skills Short Learning Programme, and 20 the Bachelor’s degree in Management Leadership.

This joint effort will equip these employees with essential skills and knowledge and empower them to carry out their responsibilities efficiently and effectively. Rooted in the UFS’s Vision 130, this initiative fosters positive change within the community by enhancing social justice and innovation.

Dr Engela van Staden, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic at the UFS, emphasised the university's dedication to human resource development and empowering individuals. “We were very excited when we got this engagement with you, and I hope it will be fruitful for you, because that’s the intention. We are also reaching out to other municipalities because we are doing it for our country, and the sooner we do it, the better the services you will deliver to people.” 

Xhariep Municipality expressed gratitude for the collaboration, recognising its significance in empowering its employees. Mbulelo Aven Jafta, Corporate Services Director at the municipality, thanked the university for accepting the partnership. “As a municipality, we are interested in capacitating our employees to perform their duties optimally. It is through these partnerships that we reach our intended targets. This is the first two projects, and many more will be coming as our partnership progresses, and we intend to use this opportunity to the best of our abilities.”

Jafta said that such partnerships encourage a more interconnected and interdependent world. “As organisations work towards common goals, they create a ripple effect that can lead to a brighter and more promising future and play a vital role in shaping a positive and sustainable future.”

News Archive

OSM piano lecturer on jury for Unisa National Competition
2015-03-05

Prof Ruth Goveia
Photo: Supplied

Prof Ruth Goveia, a piano lecturer at our university’s Odeion School of Music (OSM), was chosen to serve on the jury of the 5th Unisa National Piano Competition. This will take place from 11 to 18 July 2015 at the ZK Matthews Hall on the Unisa Muckleneuk Campus in Pretoria.

Prof Goveia holds a doctorate in Music in Piano from the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in the USA, and has a master’s degree in Piano Performance from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, also in the USA. Prof Goveia is an experienced adjudicator, and is regularly engaged for both national and international piano competitions, festivals, and examinations.

She is a dedicated teacher, who enjoys working with both students and professional musicians. Several of her students have excelled in competitions and examinations, and enjoy successful careers.

The Unisa National Music Competition was founded with the main objective of providing young South African pianists with the necessary experience, requirements, and procedures of an international piano competition. The winner of the national competition has automatic access as a participant in the next scheduled Unisa International Piano competition. The prescribed repertoire requirements of the national competition always correspond closely to those of the next Unisa International Piano Competition.

Competitors will be subject to the same adjudication criteria and processes applicable to international piano competitions. The Unisa Music Foundation’s next piano competition will have a jazz category running parallel to the classical category.

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